Pricing & Availability
Olight sent me this light in exchange for an honest review. Here is the official product page (non-affiliate) and the Amazon US page (non-affiliate) where you can see current pricing. At the time of writing it’s a whopping $370 USD.
What comes in the box?
Marauder 3 comes in an high-quality plastic hard case. Inside is:
- The light itself
- User manual
- Normal USB-C charging cable
- Wrist lanyard / USB-C cable
- 30W USB power supply
- Belt holster (does not fit in hard case)
Design & Construction
Marauder 3 takes the existing Marauder blueprint and brings in Olight’s latest design language with micro-perforation indicators / display and faceted corners. The color options are nice too. I don’t care for the blue accents Olight puts on almost every model, so an all-black option is nice to see.
Build quality is top-notch. The fit and finish are perfect. Even the moving part like the switches and USB cover feel precise and high quality. One thing to note is it sometimes makes a few faint popping noises when I activate Turbo mode. It hasn’t caused any problems though, so I suspect it’s just some minor thermal expansion from the sudden heat buildup.
Size & Measurements
Surefire G2X pro + Switchback | Streamlight Microstream | Olight Marauder 3 | Mini Maglite | Olight Warrior 3S
Convoy 3X21C | Olight Marauder 3 | Olight Marauder Mini | Acebeam X25
| Measurement | Measured (mm) |
|---|---|
| Bezel Diameter | 75.0 |
| Maximum Head Diameter | 79.4 |
| Length | 151.2 |
| Switch Diameter | 16.9 |
| Body Tube Diameter | ~52.5 |
| Tailcap Diameter | 59.4 |
| Tailcap Length | 18.1 |
| Weight (g) | 845 |
Switch & User Interface
Marauder 3 has two switches: a main button/knob that can be pushed down or rotated, and a 3-position channel selector switch. The main switch feels reasonably sturdy and tactile despite also being a knob. The knob rotation has soft detents as you rotate it, and can turn infinitely. This switch setup is best-in-class, and so is the UI.
Basic E-switch UI Checklist: #/12
- 1C on/off✅
- 1H to change brightness✅
- 1H steps through stepped levels. Rotating the knob gives you more granular control.
- Stepped levels✅
- There are stepped levels if you hold the button down, or you can rotate the knob for more granular control.
- Main rotation is Low-Med-High❌
- There are 6 levels in the main mode rotation (L1-L6), which is excessive. There’s a knob for more granular control, and the top four levels (including Turbo) all perform exactly the same after the first 3 minutes.
- Moonlight shortcut: 1H from off✅
- Low shortcut: 1H from Moonlight✅
- Turbo shortcut: 2C from anywhere✅
- Strobe shortcut: 3C from anywhere✅
- Mode memory for Low, Medium, and High✅
- It has mode memory for everything except Moonlight, but the mode memory for any level above L4 gets reset down to L4 if the light is off for more than a minute or two. I dislike that “feature” on smaller EDC-size Olight models, but it doesn’t bother me here because this light is so big and won’t be turn on/off nearly as frequently.
- No mode memory for Moonlight, Turbo, and Strobe❌
- Moonlight is memorized. It shouldn’t be because there’s a dedicated Moonlight shortcut. Turbo (L7) is memorized as L6, which is weird. Neither should be memorized at all because they have dedicated shortcuts.
- Lockout is unobtrusive✅
- It auto-locks a moment after you turn the light off, but it will auto-unlock and turn on if you press the button with your finger. It basically acts like it’s unlocked all the time, but if anything other than your skin presses the button it will ignore it. That’s excellent. If you’re wearing gloves, you can rotate the knob half a turn to unlock. This is an enormous improvement over every previous rotary-knob Olight model.
- Does something when you click the switch in Lockout mode✅
- There’s a helpful little lock icon above the switch that glows.
- Channel-selector is a dedicated switch✅
- Forward is spot, backward is flood, and middle is both. That’s super intuitive without even looking at it.
Emitter & Beam
My Olight rep informed me that the LEDs in the floodlight ring are from LatticePower, and the center spotlight LED is a Luminus SFT25R. Theyre all in cool white, ~65CRI confirm. All those LEDs sit under one giant TIR optic with a cone/lens for each LED molded in.
There are no RGB LEDs or a side LED like on the Marauder Mini 2. I think that’s a good move because it prevents this already-complex light from becoming too complicated and cumbersome to use.
The beams are great. The flood beam is a wide, flat, circular hotspot with spill that fades away from the center. The spot beam is a narrow cone of light with virtually no spill, almost like an LEP. It’s got the tell-tale yellow edge of an aspheric lens. You can set the channel selector to the middle position to activate both simultaneously.
In the beamshots below, camera settings are fixed and the wall is ~2.5M away.
In the beamshots below, camera settings are as similar as possible, the basketball goal to the right of the hotspot is 39M away, and the power pole in the center is 185M away.
Mode Chart
Disclaimer: All of my measurements are taken at turn-on. Lumen measurements were taken on a Texas Ace 3.5″ Lumen Tube. A candela measurement was taken at 10 meters with an Opple Light Master III on the highest brightness, and other candela figures were calculated relative to that. CRI, CCT, & DUV data were taken for each mode from a few feet away at the center of the hotspot with the Opple Light Master and Waveform DUV Calculator. Runtime tests were performed with the Ceilingbounce app on my smartphone. These tests were performed with a fully charged included battery unless otherwise specified. I cannot measure moonlight directly, so moonlight readings are calculated based on the brightness relative to the next-lowest mode. None of this is professional equipment, so take these measurements with a grain of salt.
The official specs are above, followed by my own measurements below. In my testing, it didn’t achieve the advertised 25,000lm brightness figure, but my lumen tube cost half as much as the flashlight so take it with a grain of salt.
| Level | Lumens | Candela | Throw (Meters) | CRI (Ra) | Color Temp. (K) | DUV (Tint) |
| L7 (Turbo) | 20000 | 8100 | 180 | 67 | 5610 | 0.0047 |
| L6 | 13000 | 5300 | 150 | 66 | 5450 | 0.0062 |
| L5 | 7300 | 3000 | 110 | 66 | 5360 | 0.0074 |
| L4 | 3600 | 1500 | 76 | 65 | 5288 | 0.0085 |
| L3 | 1800 | 730 | 54 | 65 | 5250 | 0.0090 |
| L2 | 340 | 140 | 23 | 64 | 5200 | 0.0099 |
| L1 | 77 | 31 | 11 | 64 | 5270 | 0.0103 |
| Moonlight | 1 | 0 | 1 | 69 | 5310 | 0.0072 |
| Level | Lumens | Candela | Throw (Meters) | CRI (Ra) | Color Temp. (K) | DUV (Tint) |
| L7 (Turbo) | 15000 | 330000 | 1150 | T.I. | T.I. | T.I. |
| Level | Lumens | Candela | Throw (Meters) | CRI (Ra) | Color Temp. (K) | DUV (Tint) |
| L7 (Turbo) | 1600 | 280000 | 1060 | T.I. | T.I. | T.I. |
| L6 | 1000 | 180000 | 840 | T.I. | T.I. | T.I. |
| L5 | 760 | 130000 | 730 | 66 | 7090 | 0.0079 |
| L4 | 480 | 84000 | 580 | 65 | 6750 | 0.0094 |
| L3 | 230 | 40000 | 401 | 64 | 6520 | 0.0109 |
| L2 | 46 | 8100 | 180 | 63 | 6330 | 0.0130 |
| L1 | 7 | 1200 | 70 | 63 | 6370 | 0.0131 |
| Moonlight | ~1 | ~175 | ~26 | 66 | 6850 | 0.0118 |
Runtime
Performance: Peak brightness is jaw-dropping and total runtime is excellent, far exceeding similar-size multi-cell competitors. Sustained brightness is pretty high at ~2700lm. I’m disappointed by the stepdown in the Spot Turbo test. I would have thought it’d be able to sustain 1500lm spot-only if it can sustain ~2700lm flood-only.
Thermal Management: My Turbo and Turbo Cooled tests are virtually identical, so there’s no active thermal throttling here, just timed stepdowns. That means performance will be consistent, but not optimized for ambient temperature.
LVP (Low Voltage Protection): The light will shut off when the battery is practically empty, and it cannot be turned back on until you connect it to a charger. I wish that it could be temporarily reactivated in Moonlight mode for emergencies.
Driver
The driver: My Olight rep says Marauder 3 uses both a Buck and Boost driver. I assume the Buck circuit is for the SFT25R and the Boost circuit is for the ring of flood LEDs. Buck and Boost drivers are generally efficient and well-regulated.
Voltage immunity is not great. You can only access Turbo mode if the light has 5+ bars of charge remaining, and you lose another mode for every bar of battery below that. I would have liked to see these limits shift 1-2 battery bars lower (so Turbo would be accessible down to 3-4 bars, for example).
PWM: No PWM is detectable to my eyes, ears, nor Opple Light Master.
Parasitic Drain: I can’t measure parasitic drain because the battery is built in and inaccessible.
Batteries & Charging
The battery is a built‑in 31,900mAh 46950 lithium‑ion cell. It’s capacity is enormous, around double that of similar-size lights carrying 21700 or 18650 cells. The fact that it’s built in is a huge downside because it will eventually wear out in 5-10 years. At that point, you’ll have to reach out to Olight and hope they will either be able to replace the battery for you or replace the light with a newer model under the lifetime warranty. Considering this is a cylinder cell in a standard size format, it’s doubly disappointing that Olight decided to make it built in and not user serviceable. If you want to get the longest lifespan, try to keep the battery around half charge when it’s not being used for awhile.
Charging is facilitated by a USB-C port on the side of the head opposite the button. It’s covered by a metal flap. A USB-C 30W power adapter is included in the box. Given it’s enormous capacity, it still takes a long time to charge (nearly 5 hours) even at 30W. There’s a powerbank function (advertised 30W output). It works while plugged in, but brightness is limited to L4 when charging or discharging through the USB-C port.
The battery indicator is absolutely fabulous. Not only do you get an 8-incriment indicator to the right side of the main button, you also get an estimated runtime remaining display below the beam selector switch. That also displays estimated time to a full charge when it’s plugged in. It’s all glanceable and intuitive. Well done, Olight.
Carry & Ergonomics
Ergonomics are great. It’s comfortable to hold and reach the switches, and the rubberized texture provides plenty of grip. It is fairly heavy though, so carrying it around can get old quickly.
The wrist lanyard is a USB-C cable in a quick-detach coupler. It works OK but is fairly stiff.
The belt holster: Is adequate with a metal belt clip and velcro closure. This light would be awfully heavy and bulky on a belt though, so I’d expect to either hold it or put it down.
Magnet: There are no magnets on this light.
Competition
Here are some lights in the same class and how they compare.
Wurkkos TS32: budget Alternative
- around 1/4 the price
- not as bright, doesn’t throw as far
- comes with a carry handle, but no case
- uses three user-swappable 21700 batteries (less than half the total capacity)
- a bit smaller and lighter
- dual e-switches and a different UI
- out of stock a lot of places, maybe discontinued?
Fenix LR40R V2.0: another name-brand alternative
- slightly less expensive
- not quite as bright, doesn’t throw quite as far
- uses reflectors instead of TIR optic, so the beams have more spill
- uses three user-swappable 21700 batteries (less than half the total capacity)
- USB-C charging and USB-A output port
- wide temperature resistance range
- center switch with rotary channel selector
- good 5-led battery indicator, no time display
Acebeam X25: single-beam user-serviceable alternative
- similar price
- similar brightness, more throw
- single-beam, not switchable flood and spot
- wider head, optional carry handle
- available with a built in battery and integrated charging or four user-swappable 21700 batteries (less total capacity than Marauder 3)
- one color option
- simpler single-button UI with a dedicated lockout switch
This section is not comprehensive. If I didn’t include a particular light here, it doesn’t mean it’s bad or doesn’t deserve to be here. I simply cannot list every possible competitor.
Conclusion
I love the switches, UI setup (especially the one-touch unlock feature), and all-black color option. Build quality, brightness, throw, beam shapes, indicators, runtimes, and standard USB-C charging are all excellent. I like the standard USB-C charging and that it’s not cluttered with extra RGB or side LED functions. Voltage immunity and charge speed are mediocre and it’s pretty heavy. I dislike the built-in battery and high price tag, especially in the same product. Overall this feels like the most premium soda-can-flooder or flood-throw-switcher that I’ve handled at the time of writing.
Thanks to Olight for sending me this light for review!
